A Complicated Kindness

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We're Mennonites. As far as I know, we are the most embarrassing sub-sect of people to belong to if you're a teenager.Sixteen-year-old Nomi Nickel longs to hang out with Lou Reed and Marianne Faithfull in New York City's East Village. Instead she's trapped in East Village, Manitoba: a town with no train station, no bar, and where job prospects consist of slaughtering chickens at the Happy Family Farms abattoir.Since her mother and sister have left home, Nomi lives with her father, Ray, a sweet yet hapless schoolteacher. ...
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We're Mennonites. As far as I know, we are the most embarrassing sub-sect of people to belong to if you're a teenager.Sixteen-year-old Nomi Nickel longs to hang out with Lou Reed and Marianne Faithfull in New York City's East Village. Instead she's trapped in East Village, Manitoba: a town with no train station, no bar, and where job prospects consist of slaughtering chickens at the Happy Family Farms abattoir.Since her mother and sister have left home, Nomi lives with her father, Ray, a sweet yet hapless schoolteacher. Fighting against the restraints of the town, Nomi's longing for a future of opportunity and hope sets her on course towards a climax at once startling and inevitable.
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Customer Reviews

i was really disappointed with this book. it initially grabbed my interest because of the author's mennonite connections but i found the book really difficult to read as it was so fragmented. i don't know if this is toews normal style of writing or if she was writing in a particular way because of her subject matter....whatever, it was really hard work and i came away frustrated as she'd had rave reviews elsewhere.maybe i should persevere and try something else she's written but to be honest i'm not sure if it'll be worth the time and effort!

kozgal11

Sep 11, 2007

an excellent read

I LOVED this book! The main character is both severely awkward and intelligently profound. A great read for people with a sense of cynicism or dark humour. Toews has created a wonderful and complicated protagonist.

3chicksmom

Apr 7, 2007

I loved this book!

From the moment I began readiing this book I could not put it down. It's a beautifully written story of teenage angst through the eyes of a girl being raised in a Mennonite community where the rules are strict and plentiful. She tells the heartwrenching story of growing up in a fishbowl. Everyone is her judge and jury and purely by association with her nutty family she already has strikes against her before her own actions are even taken into account!This book had me laughing and crying - my favorite kind of story!

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